JEFFERSON — Making their second straight trip to the district finals, the first ranked Girard Indians knew they were in for a tough battle when they found themselves facing the second ranked Marlington Dukes.

The Indians hoped to defeat the Dukes and claim an OHSAA division II district title – a task they fell just short of when they lost to the Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin Lions in the 2021 playoffs.

Unfortunately for Girard, its postseason journey came to a close as it fell in three sets, 25-14, 25-13, 25-20, to Marlington at Jefferson Area High School on Saturday, Oct. 29.

Girard got off to a fast start as they scored the first three points of the first set and appeared to be taking the momentum of the game early. But, after a few mistakes by the Indians, Marlington went on a scoring run and quickly found themselves leading the first set 9-5. Girard head coach Phil Walter believes that his team’s first set slip-up was the starting point of a dominant performance by Marlington.

“We made a few silly mistakes early on and we just couldn’t pull ourselves out of it,” Walter said. “Marlington is a strong team, too strong to let the game get away as much as we did. Unfortunately, they took us out of our defense, and we struggled.”

The Indians had a tough time keeping up with the fast-paced play of the Dukes. Any time Girard scored, it seemed Marlington was right behind them ready to answer.

“We had a game plan coming into this game and it worked for us,” Marlington head coach Stephanie Tortola said.

“We play a really quick offense and I think that was where we took advantage in the game. We have a lot of options for our offense so we’re moving the ball a lot and sometimes other teams are challenged by that because we’re not going to the same couple people.”

As the Dukes began to take over the game, coach Walter saw the Indians struggle to gain any traction.

“It started with our serve receive and then our offense went south,” Walter said.

“We kind of played into them and we didn’t protect the ball like we should have.”

Sophomore Laney Graffice led the Dukes with 14 kills while senior Natalie Maiorana followed closely behind with 12.

Junior Janelle Swisher led the team with 29 assists. Marlington’s defense held strong against the Indians as sophomore Jacsyn Hilliard led the way with 22 digs.

Girard fought hard until the end.

Senior Lauren Pallone led the team with 21 kills while fellow senior Allison Durkin had a team-high 31 assists.

Sophomore Bailey Walters led the Indians’ defense with 12 digs. Coach Walters thought his team’s seniors performed well despite the loss.

“Lauren Pallone’s been our big kill getter,” Walter said.

“Lauren did an amazing job for us tonight. She always plays well. She finished with 21 kills and she’s been our team leader, her and Allie Durkin both.”

With the victory, Marlington advances to the regional semifinals and will face the Bay Rockets next Thursday.

Although they once again failed to claim the district title, coach Walter and the Indians will look back on their 2022 campaign as a success.

“This is probably the strongest schedule that we have put together ever,” Walter said.

“To go 19-3, I was just amazed. We won some matches that I didn’t think we had a chance to win so I’m more than happy about that. But, when playoffs start, it’s anybody’s game.”